Tim Hudson

SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Hudson added to his list of career accomplishments Sunday, even if his outing didn’t inspire confidence about his future.

Hudson grinded through five innings to earn the win as the Giants capped a sweep of the A’s with a 4-3 victory. At age 40, Hudson became the 15th pitcher to own at least one victory against all 30 major league teams.

“I’m not sure if you could say it’s on my bucket list, but it is a pretty cool thing to be able to say you’ve done,” Hudson said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play for some really good teams and have a chance to beat all of them.”

Hudson’s day ended after 82 pitches, 29 of which came during a laborious fourth inning. The A’s got a pair of two-out run scoring singles before he escaped the inning and he worked around a leadoff single in the fifth inning to become eligible for the win. He allowed seven hits and three runs.

“I thought he was sharp early,” catcher Buster Posey said of Hudson. “He had that one long inning and I thought it wore on him. But he still found a way to get us through five. All in all, I thought it was a step in the right direction.” Continue Reading →

The 39-year-old veteran will leave the club after Wednesday’s game to attend to a family situation that requires his presence. If he isn’t placed on the 7-day personal leave list, then it’s likely he will go on the 15-day disabled list to give his aching right shoulder and hip a chance to freshen up.

As anticipated, Hudson will cede his place in the rotation to Jake Peavy. The Giants plan to activate Peavy prior to handing him the ball for a start Friday in Washington.Continue Reading →

MIAMI – The Giants reconfigured their bench prior to Tuesday’s game when they waved goodbye to Casey McGehee and brought up Ehire Adrianza from Triple-A Sacramento.

Now the rotation is about to get an overhaul.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy finally confirmed the long-held assumption: Matt Cain will be activated to start Thursday’s series finale here, and Jake Peavy will be activated to start Friday at Washington.

Tim Lincecum will be placed on the disabled list on Thursday to make roster room for Cain. The expectation is that Tim Hudson will go on the DL with one ailment or another to cede his spot to Peavy. Bochy wouldn’t confirm that last part, but he reiterated that the Giants have no plans to expand to a six-man rotation.Continue Reading →

SAN FRANCISCO – Over the weekend in Cincinnati, the Giants feasted for 10 runs on Friday, 11 on Saturday and nine on Sunday. In a major league season, though, leftovers are not an option.

The Giants proved capable of winning an entirely different kind of game Tuesday night, in an environment that was livelier in the stands but less so in the batter’s box. They found enough in the back of the cupboard — Buster Posey’s RBI single in the third inning, a wild pitch in the eighth – to claim a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.

Tim Hudson cut and sank his way into the seventh inning, Sergio Romo extracted his bullpen mates from a bases-loaded jam and Hunter Pence remained as familiar with the right field breeze here as a galleon on the trade winds. Richly cheered in his first home game of the season, Pence raced to make a catch in the archway as the Giants won their fourth consecutive.Continue Reading →

Pain-free and pumped up to simply slip on a uniform again, Angel Pagan went through his first workout since September back surgery that knocked him out of the Giants’ World Series run.

Pagan said he feels “like never before” and confirmed manager Bruce Bochy’s communique earlier this week that the outfielder hopes to play 160 games this year after two straight injury plagued seasons that limited to 167 total games.

“Why not? I’d like to play them all,” Pagan said before the Giants had their first full-squad workout on Tuesday. “The reality is whatever Bochy wants. If he wants to give us a breather, I respect that, but I’m coming out here to play them all. I want to play as many games as they let me play, whatever that means.”

Pagan said he dealt with the bulging disc in his back throughout last season, and even though he continued to play, it was sheer torture. He hit .300 in 96 games, but played his last game on Sept. 19. He had surgery on Sept. 25 in Los Angeles to shave away the herniated portion of a disc in his lower back, ending his year.

“I was trying to make it to the end of the season and the playoffs, but I couldn’t do it,” he said. “The doctor advised me to get the surgery or I would have neurological damage for life. I have to think of the future. I think I helped the team enough to get to the playoffs and they picked me up. I feel really happy the way everything played out.”

Well, this is different. Baggs here, making my first career pinch-hitting appearance on this blog. While the tech gurus set up a username for me, I’m logging in as Carl to bring you news from camp. There’s a Madison Bumgarner story that I wrote for the paper as well, so be sure to look for that. Thanks, and it’s great to be back. Spring is a time of renewal, right? -AB

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Tim Hudson and Matt Cain weren’t the only familiar right-handed pitchers who didn’t throw with their group off a mound in the Giants’ first workout of the spring on Thursday.

Right-hander Sergio Romo also was held back as a precaution because of what Giants manager Bruce Bochy described as “slight soreness” in his shoulder.

“We don’t see a major setback here,” said Bochy, adding that Romo dealt with the shoulder at times last season, when he lost his closer role before finishing strong as a setup reliever.

The Giants hadn’t ordered any diagnostics for Romo, who signed a two-year, $15 million contract in the offseason. The 31-year-old reliever went 6-4 with a 3.72 ERA that ranked as his highest in five seasons and gave up a career-high nine home runs, but he still held right-handers to a .172 average and pitched well through most of the postseason.

It was expected that Cain and Hudson would be held back as a precaution, even though they were listed in work groups with pitchers who threw off a mound Thursday. Cain had bone chips removed from his right elbow in August and another procedure to shave down a bone spur in his ankle in September. He pantomimed his delivery off a mound and was expected to join his throwing group in a few days, Bochy said.

Hudson, who pitched with right ankle discomfort most of last season, had surgery in January to shave down two bone spurs. Hudson said the hip issues that affected him in September and the postseason likely came on because he was compensating for the ankle; the hip hasn’t been an issue as he ramped up his rehab work in the past few weeks. He could begin throwing in another four to five days, Bochy said.

Tim Hudson jumped right into the mix when the Giants slotted him third in their spring training rotation. He’s looked sharp so far, giving up just two hits in five scoreless innings. It’s been easy at times to forget that Hudson, like Buster Posey two years ago, is coming back from a serious ankle surgery, but on Thursday we had a reminder. Hudson had a big ice pack on his ankle as he spoke to reporters and said he expects to deal with some discomfort here and there during the season.

“It’s almost eight months out of surgery and I feel pretty good, but I know there are going to be times where it’s not going to feel great,” he said. “I’ve talked to (Buster) about where he is right now. He said there are days he can tell it’s there, but for the most part he doesn’t think about (his ankle).”

Honestly, we don’t either. It was the story of camp two years ago, but outside of the rare question from an ill-informed national reporter or TV talking head, Posey hasn’t talked about his ankle for well over a year. Hudson hopes to reach the same point. There will be discomfort, partly because he’s 38, but the guess by Hudson is that he’ll be near 100 percent far more often than not. He’s getting closer day by day.

“It’s still a work in progress right now,” he said. “There are still some things I need to work on as far as strengthening.”

There are tests you can’t pass until they’re put in front of you. Hudson had a new one Thursday, when he walked Roger Bernadina and then had to spin and start a double play on Ramon Santiago’s grounder to the mound. He said he felt fine while planting. There’s nothing wrong with his arm, either. With Hudson’s outing, the rotation has now thrown 20 innings this spring and given up one run. Continue Reading →

Buster Posey set up behind the first plate in the bullpen. First came Ryan Vogelsong.

“He looked good,” Posey said.

Then Tim Lincecum.

“He looked good,” Posey said, smiling.

And Tim Hudson.

“He looked good.”

Hey, it’s spring training. They’re not all at full speed yet, but the Giants are healthy and back at work, and, well, the 60 percent of the rotation that took the mound Sunday did look good. Lincecum was airing it out and keeping the ball down and Hudson mixed in a set of breaking balls and later said he doesn’t even think about his surgically repaired ankle. Vogelsong was his usual self, seemingly upset with any location misses in early February and constantly working on his mechanics. More than anything, Vogelsong is healthy, and that’s a huge thing for him after two seasons where he dealt with tweaks here and there.

Posey offered further analysis, but there’s only so much to be said for a February 16 bullpen session. A lot more was said in the weight room, when Posey and Hudson got together to talk about how the veteran approaches hitters. Hudson enjoyed throwing to Posey for the first time.

“He’s a pro, one of the best back there,” Hudson said. “Both offensively and defensively, he’s the total package.”Continue Reading →